Ezra 9 Chapter Introduction

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

Intermarriage

When Ezra found out that many Jews who had returned from exile had married Gentile wives, he prayed to God and confessed this sin of his people. He acknowledged that God had been good to them much more than they deserved by letting these few people return from captivity and then they sinned by marrying Gentile wives. The Jewish people had done this before and God had punished them for it. God forbade this type of marriage because it caused the people to worship other gods. (See: sin and falsegod)

Exclusive forms

Ezra uses many first person plural pronouns as he prays to God. Since Ezra is speaking to God, these forms of “we,” “us,” and “our” would all be the exclusive forms. (See: figs-exclusive)